Virus, bugs and drugs. Social forms of HIV-AIDS in the Spanish gypsy community

Abstract

Through the study of narratives, this article analyzes the three most prevalent social representations of AIDS in Spanish gypsies. The first social representation —directly linked to the context of the everyday experience of living with the disease— refers us to a highly “medicalized†perception constructed on the grounds of contemporary biomedical knowledge about AIDS. The second representation suggests a blend between both, biomedical and common knowledges, and popular descriptions of infectious and contagious diseases. Finally, the third representation of the HIV-AIDScomplex —portrayed by those with no daily experience of the disease— is constructed from a moral stance by gathering and reproducing those first biomedical accounts which directly associated the disease with risk groups that were condemned by medical and social normalcy.